Tips for Beginners

[New.to.biking]

Hey,
So I'm a student in Germany, and since I'm currently a broke one I've decided to bike everywhere while the weather still allows it :D. I bike for an average of 3 to 4 hours EVERYday (1.5 to 2 hours to work and the same back home) and almost half the distance I cover is very steep (mainly upwards but also downwards) my questions are, besides the essentials (helmet and water) are there things I should watch out for? Like, my saddle is set pretty low on my bike should I raise it? should it be tilted and should I have a certain posture (leaning or upright)??? Any other advice would be MUCH appreciated
:):):)
Thank you all

p.s Incase you were wondering, I try to keep my pace as fast as I can

[aeiea]

Yay to you for commuting! How many miles/km is that, wondering? And what kind of bike do you have?

I'm sure the more experienced cyclists will have tips for you, but there's a thread I started regarding my saddle problems, so take a look at that. Many suggested raising the saddle. While it's hard to tell if yours is too low without a picture, there are some rules of thumb the others on the forum told me in terms of how high I should be on my bike:

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=33624

I'm also assuming you have a basic emergency kit -- tools, tube, pump/co2, and an energy bar.

[New.to.biking]

Hey,
thanks for the tip, I read your thread (well, to be honest, most of it :P :D) and found it very useful in terms of the kind of saddle to get, ahahaha I think I kind of understand about the pain down there ;), and now I know that gloves are IMPORTANT (just can't afford to have skinless palms right now :S)

I have no idea about the different types of bikes, but this one is just a normal womans-bike with 3 gears and a brake on the right handle, also I have no idea just how far I bike, but if I were to guess it'd be approx 28-30 km (It takes an hour by underground train), however like I said it's mostly uphill and wading through highway traffic and that just kills my thighs...I guess I just have to get used to it and the following pain in my thigh...is it normal for your thighs to sort of spaz right after?...hope my thighs don't start to swell or something..

otherwise it's sooooo much fun, something about biking really fast, the wind and the scenery that really works in calming me down and just making making me happy and positive!!
love it, love it, love it and won't give it up for the wooooooorld (at least not before winter :P)

[kenyonchris]

Hey,
...., however like I said it's mostly uphill and wading through highway traffic and that just kills my thighs...I guess I just have to get used to it and the following pain in my thigh...is it normal for your thighs to sort of spaz right after?...hope my thighs don't start to swell or something..

o

By thighs you mean your quads? What sort of shape are you in now? If your saddle is too low, your quads are going to be stressed, particularly going uphill. By spaz you mean be weak or cramp? If you mean weak, yeah, you will have a jelly feeling in your legs until they get going. But they shouldn't cramp (quads don't tend to cramp like calves do)...if they do, you need to look at your nutrition/hydration/exertion. I also suspect your saddle is probably too low, most new riders have that problem.

Even a new rider on a basic hybrid bike would benefit with a basic bike fit. Ask the advice of your LBS, they can make some minor adjustments to your bike that might make a big difference to you.

And, no worries, your thighs should not swell.

[New.to.biking]

ok, will go to the nearest bike-shop and ask them to help me adjust the saddle, oh and I guess it's my quads then, and they do feel like jelly right after and kind of you know..spasm (not cramp but more like involuntarily shake continuously for a minute or two) then they kind of set in and everything's fine again...

as for my shape, well, I'm short (around 5'5 ft or 167cm) and I weigh 55 kgs (121 pounds) I jog regularly but to be completely honest before 2 weeks ago I haven't ridden a bike for around 6-7 years so these days I do feel like my thighs are really week most of the time and in the beginning it was actually harder to bike the next day (especially uphill) as opposed to it getting a tiny bit easier or just feel the same..but then again that feeling might have just been psychological

BUT it's still a wonderful experience especially as I bike back home at night...it's really great just for thinking about the day and I guess the fresh air just helps to soothe